Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

We do not need to pander to people who do not like what we stand for.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

This blog will pay for itself.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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War for Ukraine Day 872: Glide Bombs Aimed at Kharkiv

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Painting by NEIVANMADE. It has a white background an in the center are Soldiers in green doing air defense by firing at incoming Russian missiles in the upper right. The missiles are red and yellow. In the upper left, written in green, is the text: "SAVE THE BRAVEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!" Below the Soldiers, also written in green, is "SUPPORT FOR KHARKIV"

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Two quick housekeeping notes. First, Rosie is still doing fine. She has another week off before her next treatment.

Second, because it’s been a longer weekend than I think any of us were planning on, I’m going to keep tonight’s update as brief as possible.

As I’ve typed this post over the past hour (6:00 to 7:00 PM EDT) air raid alerts have gone up for Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson Oblasts. The on for Kharkiv Oblast that was up has come down. The alert maps do not show any inbound cruise missiles, but it may be an ugly morning in southern Ukraine.

Apparently, Odesa’s air defense intercepted inbound cruise missiles shortly after I hit publish:

As of 7:36 PM EDT the air raid alerts for southern Ukraine have dropped, but a new one has been posted for Kharkiv Oblast.

Russia attacked Kharkiv with glide bombs again about two or three hours ago:

Andrei Kozyrev, who was Russia’s Foreign Minister from 1990-1996 and in the Duma through 2000, has some well informed thoughts regarding the potential aftermath of last night’s shooting in Pennsylvania.

This is what state TV in Russia is telling viewers tonight: “Today Trump quite literally spilled blood for America. He is now highly likely to get back not only the Oval Office, but also control of all key state institutions: Congress, the Prosecutor’s office, the Supreme Court.”|

As Rahm Emanuel once proclaimed, but was terrible at actually executing, never let a crisis go to waste.

Either in the US or in Russia:

President Zelenskyy, however, has a bit more class:

I am appalled to learn about the shooting of former U.S. President Donald Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania.

Such violence has no justification and no place anywhere in the world. Never should violence prevail.

I am relieved to learn that Donald Trump is now safe and wish him a speedy recovery. My condolences go out to the close ones of this attack’s victim, a rally attendee.

I extend my wishes for strength to everyone who is horrified by this event. I wish America emerges stronger from this.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Medium Cool – Star Spotting!

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Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

I can’t recall who it was, but *someone suggested this as a possible future topic—movies or TV shows where you spotted an actor in an early role before they were famous, like an early Perry Mason where Leonard Nimoy was the killer.

CliosFanBoy!

Medium Cool – Star Spotting!

I would have liked to have seen that one!  Maybe Steeplejack (Perry Mason watcher extraordinaries) can let us know when that one will be showing next?

What are some of the other shows where you could frequently see future stars when they were still young pups?  Seems to me that along with Perry Mason, Rockford Files and Law & Order were frequent starter roles for aspiring actors were .  Or maybe the shows that had a lot of the young pups were just really great at spotting talent early?

Speaking of the Rockford Files, was Angel the antecedent of “Mozzie” on White Collar?

Anyway, anything that’s even remotely within throwing distance of this topic is fair game.  Just looking for something simple to start off the conversation this evening.

*out yourself in the comments if you are the someone who recommended this topic!

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Everything – Everything is Projection

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Everything - Everything is Projection
The new right-wing talking point is that yesterday’s attempted assassination of Trump was Biden’s fault – and a lot of them are saying it.

What kind of leadership is this? It’s leadership by shitpost and pot stirring, by liars spewing nonsense. Here’s some real leadership:

In case you don’t want to watch the video, it’s Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro naming the poor man who was killed yesterday and asking for everyone to tone down the hateful rhetoric.

They politicize everything and accuse others of politicization. They call for killings and sow hatred, and accuse others of what they do.

The one thing Democrats must do is to push back on the notion that naming these anti-democratic proto-fascists as what they are is somehow a violent act, or promulgates violence. They know that Project 2025 was hurting them, badly, and they’re hoping that their smokescreen will scare Democrats and the media away. We can’t let it.

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False Equivalency Bullshit

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As of this moment, we still don’t know what motivated the gunman who opened fire at the ex-president’s rally last night. But within minutes of the incident, Republican politicians rushed every microphone and social media platform in sight to blame Democrats.

Via WaPo, here’s a sample of the rhetoric from two of the obsequious dopes who are competing to become Trump’s running mate:

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” [Senator J.D.] Vance wrote. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), another Trump ally, shared a similar sentiment. “Let’s be clear: This was an assassination attempt aided and abetted by the radical Left and corporate media incessantly calling Trump a threat to democracy, fascists, or worse,” he wrote on social media.

Scott Jennings, CNN analyst who used to be a Mitch McConnell aide, got all emotional about the issue during last evening’s coverage, accusing Democrats of creating an atmosphere of political violence that made the apparent assassination attempt inevitable.

This self-serving bilge was served up without a trace of self-awareness, as is typical of the GOP tribe’s “every accusation is a confession” pattern, the party whose innocent victim said this before the 2016 election:

The Post threw together a both sides-ish editorial last night:

In this moment, we have to recognize that we have all been touched by toxic politics — regardless of our beliefs or where we fall on an ideological spectrum.

Can this, then, be a moment to pause and rediscover our better selves? To hear our inner voices, as clearly as we heard those shots? Americans, what do we want to be?

It’s not up to politicians, or editorial pages.

The responsibility is ours, as neighbors and citizens.

Maybe the editorial writers should have waited for the cold light of dawn because yes, it goddamn well is up to politicians, who should not incite gun nut goobers to commit violence against political rivals or gin up a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol when they lose an election.

And it’s up to editorial pages to call them out when they do, not with mealy-mouthed editorials that imply that both sides bear equal responsibility but with clarity about who exactly has normalized political violence: Donald Trump and the hard-right MAGA cult.

Joe Biden and Democrats have correctly identified the threat Trump and his toxic movement pose to American democracy. I hope this incident doesn’t cause them to back off from telling that truth in the months to come.

That would be a grave disservice to the country, where only one party, Republicans, incite violence for political gain and ensure we’re ass-deep in guns so any random, rage-filled loon can act on his impulse.

Open thread.

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Sunday Morning Open Thread: Back to the Real Battles

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Per the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, “Think tank behind Project 2025 conservative blueprint signs on as RNC convention sponsor”:

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Wee Hours Open Thread

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This is a terrible idea (report on CNN):

Vending machine that sells bullets

The three states where ammo is available in vending machines are Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma. No worries, though — AI handles customer screening, so what could possibly go wrong?

Also on CNN, the FBI has identified the deceased shooter in the Trump assassination attempt: Thomas Matthew Crooks. The report says he was “a 20-year-old registered Republican who had previously made a small contribution to a Democratic-aligned group, according to public records.”

Hmmm. Open thread.

 

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War for Ukraine Day 871: For Want of a Nail

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Painting by NEIVANMADE. The background is black. There is a white cross in a broken window frame. In front of it is a hispital bed with an IV stand falling across it. Wires from a broken monitor on the right are strewn on the floor with a yellow basketball on the right and teddy bear on the left. In the foreground are fragments of a Russian cruise missile, which are red, and have the "Z" war symbol. In the top of the painting in grey is written "Children's Hospital." Below that in red "Is Just Another Target for Russia" is written.

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Two quick housekeeping notes. First, both the girls are doing excellently. Rosie has not had any noticeable systemic reaction to last Monday’s chemo treatment. Thank you all for the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations.

Second, given the evening’s news, I’m going to keep this on the shorter side as I’m sure we’re going to get several updates, as well as breathless speculation about what happened, why, and what effects it will have.

Apparently new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer misspoke in his meeting with President Zelenskyy during the NATO summit. The Times has the details:

Britain has to convince France and another key Nato ally before it can allow Ukraine to fire its Storm Shadow cruise missiles at targets inside Russia as the UK is unable to act alone.

Sir Keir Starmer suggested at the Nato summit in Washington DC this week that he was loosening restrictions on how the weapons were used in a shift in policy that was praised by President Zelensky of Ukraine.

However, No 10 has been forced to clarify it has not given permission to Ukraine to fire the missiles into Russia and the position has not changed since the previous government.

Under defence agreements, the UK has to have the approval of two allies, one of which is France, which manufactures Storm Shadows alongside the UK. The other is another undisclosed Nato ally.

Storm Shadow missiles have a range of over 250 km (155 miles), triple the range of the missiles Ukraine has used up to now, and are very similar to the Taurus missiles that Germany has refused to hand for fear of the war escalating.

The UK has made a formal request to both allies in recent days and ministers are awaiting approval before giving Ukraine permission.

“This is not just ticking a box. It is quite a serious decision,” said a defence source, adding that Starmer had spoken too soon. “The intent remains positive,” they added.

There is extreme nervousness in Nato that tensions could spiral out of control if Ukraine is allowed to use the alliance’s weapons to hit targets in Russia. However, Ukraine has argued that it needs to be able to destroy bases and military infrastructure inside Russia if it is to win the war, a position that UK ministers have privately agreed with before. It is thought, however, that the UK does not want to go ahead with approving the weapons for use inside Russia without the backing of some of its closest allies.

As is stands, Kyiv is allowed to fire Storm Shadow missiles against targets in Crimea and mainland Ukraine. The US allows Ukraine to use its weapons when acting in defence of the city of Kharkiv in the northeast. Starmer said earlier in the week that UK military aid was “for defensive purposes but it is for Ukraine to decide how to deploy it for those defensive purposes”.

Then after talks with Starmer on Wednesday, Zelensky said he had been given “permission to use Storm Shadow missiles against military targets in Russian territory”.

“Today, we had the opportunity to discuss the practical implementation of this decision,” Zelensky said, while having a photograph taken with the prime minister at the summit marking the 75th anniversary of the transatlantic alliance.

A Ukrainian military source also praised Starmer’s position, suggesting he had gone further than the previous Conservative government. “This is a more clear and very strong message to partner countries,” the source added.

I have no idea if Starmer wasn’t staffed properly on this or he misspoke, but you’ve got to do better than this. This happens over and over and over again. Every time it happens it hurts the Ukrainians and helps the Russians.

There is no new video posted on the President of Ukraine’s website or YouTube channel. He was traveling today and had a brief meeting with the Taoisech.

On my way to Ukraine, I met with Ireland’s Taoiseach @SimonHarrisTD.

We discussed support for Ukraine and continued cooperation in demining and cybersecurity. We also talked about the next steps to implement the decisions based on the outcomes of the Peace Summit and discussed the efforts needed to increase global attention to the issue of children illegally deported by Russia.

I thank Ireland for supporting the Peace Summit in Switzerland and the Taoiseach for his strong personal attention and commitment to the efforts to bring the children home.

🇺🇦 🇮🇪

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